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Some (by Pirate) water work this morning

Rowdy doing a simple double. The go bird gun station is tucked up in the cove to the right. So the dogs can't see it. I wanted it to be a surprise, like a breaking bird. Rowdy was certainly surprised. Shadow is on stand alone honor. My analysis:
1. I sent Rowdy too soon. Only a two count.
2. I should have tapped my leg to get him to turn with me.
3. I forgot and used "heel" and "here" with Rowdy so Shadow crept off the honor spot.

But anyway the training lesson for Rowdy was to have another dog already close to the line and to ignore him.

This is Hank doing a tough water blind. He has just graduated from seasoned level blinds in the water (60 yds and outside the gun stations). He has started doing longer blinds and inside the guns on land but this is his first time in the water. There were some significant factors:
1. Between marks
2. Under the arc of one mark
3. Avoid the land point
4. Avoid the lone decoy.
5. Get in and stay in the channel
I used attrition only, except I yelled at him once. I finally got the cast I was looking for and once in the channel he recognized it.
I reran the blind and the next time he sees this concept he will do better.http://s868.photobucket.com/user/way...36a11.mp4.html

Wayne, always enjoy your videos. Watching you and Hank run the blind, something jumped out at me--he took the proper cast on the whistle where you waited the longest to make the cast. What is your usual tempo when handling? I ask because I have one dog that I need to cast quickly and one that needs a little time to clear her head before I cast her.

I try to go much slower but it looks like I got into too much of a hurry. I really don't know the answer to your question as this is the first water blind I have run with Hank since Jun '12. He just came back with me for a while about 10 days ago.

Agree that it's a fine job with a young dog. The point about handling too fast is well taken. Also, all of your casts were in conjunction with a verbal "back", are you aware of the influence, and appropriateness, of a silent cast as opposed to a verbal? A silent cast can imply a more subtle change of direction where a verbal will impart a level of pressure that can result in a scallop or accentuate a poor decision from the dog.

This is Hank doing a tough water blind. He has just graduated from seasoned level blinds in the water (60 yds and outside the gun stations). He has started doing longer blinds and inside the guns on land but this is his first time in the water. There were some significant factors:
1. Between marks
2. Under the arc of one mark
3. Avoid the land point
4. Avoid the lone decoy.
5. Get in and stay in the channelI used attrition only, except I yelled at him once. I finally got the cast I was looking for and once in the channel he recognized it.
I reran the blind and the next time he sees this concept he will do better.http://s868.photobucket.com/user/way...36a11.mp4.html

I guess I also missed the "attrition" part of your training. Where did you call the dog back to re-attempt a slipped cast? Instead of "attrition" did you mean no collar corrections?

I guess I also missed the "attrition" part of your training. Where did you call the dog back to re-attempt a slipped cast? Instead of "attrition" did you mean no collar corrections?

To me attrition doesn't require that you call the dog back to re-attempt a slipped cast. It is simply immediately stopping the dog if he doesnt carry the cast given, repeating the cast and insisting on getting the cast given wo a collar correction. It's a process of wearing the dog down and insisting on getting the {exact same}cast that was given.
As part of this attrition process I will sometimes call them back to the original spot. When dogs completely understand the process they will oftentimes then overcast when called back in, as opposed to scalloping back

Thanks everyone for the comments. Attrition to me means just wearing the dog down with repeated commands until he gets it right. While you could call him back to repeat the command, I think this is a subtle form of indirect pressure. Hank is very sensitive dog and I decided to stay with the approach I used.

I use indirect pressure with Hank on land but I haven't done so in the water.